I also found SFOS bloody boring, I practically had to bribe myself with chocolate to read the next chapter. Somehow I managed to get through it. However, it's got some good commenting-on-society stuff, so I still used it in one of my essays, (it was one of the ETA practice questions - along the lines that crime fiction explores and comments on the world that it depicts) so if you guys need some fodder, here's some (excuse my ridiculously long sentences). Hope it helps
It is debatable whether
Snow Falling on Cedars is indeed crime fiction or romance; however it is the suspicious death of a white fisherman on the North American island of San Piedro and the subsequent murder trial which is a catalyst for the recollection of a poignant love story, which highlights the prejudices and tensions between the islanders of white and Japanese descent. Although during the trial we see little direct racism, an undercurrent of it runs through the novel, most obviously when the prosecutor Alvin Hooks appeals to the jury to look at closely at the face of the Japanese defendant Kabuo Miyamoto. The lovingly detailed description of the secret teenage love affair between the Japanese Hatsue and the white Ishmael, contrasted with the vivid horror of the war which separates them, also emphasises the disastrous effects of the cultural divide. The style of writing is highly symbolic, with the snow representative of the cold beauty of the world, the sturdy cedar trees of the strong bonds of love that make life bearable in it, and the storm of the irrational fear and hatred that threatens to uproot these steadying influences. The "crime" at the centre of the action is simply a narrative vehicle for Gutersons message about the human hearts potential for intense love and unrelenting hate.
